Unit dose detergent products are often found by consumers to be preferable for use in automatic dishwashing and automatic fabric-laundering applications. Such unit dose products have several advantages, including convenience of use and dispensing, lower cost per use, and avoiding or minimizing direct skin contact with potentially irritating cleaning compositions.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,439,215 discloses unit dose automatic dishwashing compositions enclosed within a multi-chambered water-soluble polymeric film pouch, with one composition (e.g., a powdered detergent composition) contained in one compartment, and a second composition (e.g., a liquid rinse aid) contained in a second compartment separate from (and sealed off from) the first compartment. Other unit-dose cleaning systems contained in multi-compartment water-soluble pouches for use in dishwashing are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,218,776; 4,776,455; 6,727,215; 6,878,679; 7,259,134; 7,282,472; 7,304,025; 7,329,441; 7,439,215; 7,464,519; and 7,595,290.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,972,870 discloses a unit dose multi-layered laundry tablet which may include a detergent in the outer layer and a fabric softener, or water softener or fragrance, in the inner layer. Other unit dose laundry detergent products involve dual compartments as disclosed in WO 02/08380 where the first compartment contains a detergent composition and the second compartment contains a fabric softening composition.
The use of multi-compartment systems, such as those described above, however, has several disadvantages, for example, the need to produce multiple compartment pouches in which each compartment must be sealed from the others during manufacturing increases the costs and difficulty of manufacturing unit dose products, which often in turn increases the cost of the product to consumers. It is advantageous to produce a single-compartment unit dose detergent composition that has optimum performance, is economically produced, and is aesthetically pleasing to consumers.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,551,929 discloses a single-compartment unit dose detergent composition where a polyvinylalcohol (PVOH) pouch encloses a solid gel formulation of high viscosity at room temperature, which can be layered directly on top of a powder detergent formulation.
There is still a need for single-compartment unit dose detergent compositions. Particularly, there is a need for single-compartment unit dose automatic dishwashing compositions, which can provide required detergency performance, as well as reduced spotting and filming on washed dishware. The present disclosure provides such a composition, as well as a method of producing and using such a composition.